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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23695897">Your Thoughts will Suffice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellygunnr/pseuds/bellygunnr'>bellygunnr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Royalty, Assassins &amp; Hitmen, Blizzards &amp; Snowstorms, Character Death, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:07:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,031</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23695897</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellygunnr/pseuds/bellygunnr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Though the snowstorm is unrelenting, they must save the King from certain destruction. No matter the cost.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>X &amp; Zero</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Your Thoughts will Suffice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A blizzard has the kingdom in a gridlock, but still the motley contingent of riders persist, blind, cold, and exhausted. Their horses break through rapidly forming snow drifts, the beasts' cries of distress lost to the deafening blanket of snow. Cold wind batters them, shaking a lone black carriage in the center of formation, but there's no time to rest-- rest is not an option until the border of their home has been crossed.</p>
<p>Inside the carriage, an elderly man sits, frail frame obscured by fur cloaks and bulky covers. He sports a merry expression, red cheeks aglow amidst a fuzzy white beard and long hair. He speaks in casual tones to a young man-- his son if the ages weren't so far apart, and a generation separating them. </p>
<p>"Grandfather, why are you so chipper? Your life is in danger," the young man says.</p>
<p>"Yes, and it's been in danger many times before," the King responds. "X, I'm not the target tonight."</p>
<p>"What?" X says, taken aback. "Grandpa?"</p>
<p>"I'm an old man. I'll be dead soon, everyone knows that," the King starts.</p>
<p>Around them, the carriage shakes, the wood creaking in the gale. A sharp crack, then a shake, sends X sprawling into the King's side.</p>
<p>"Ah, relax, X. Stay here with me, alright?"</p>
<p>X can only nod, easing himself into the King's mountain of blankets and cloaks. The pile of fur is much warmer than his own clothing. But the heat is not enough to dispel the dread pooling in his bones, weighing him down. </p>
<hr/>
<p>They'll have to stop soon.</p>
<p>The blizzard rages on, but the horses are exhausted, some past the breaking point. The heavy carthorses hauling the carriage have already faltered once, and their dismayed screams are audible over the wind's howling.</p>
<p>It's a ghastly sound.</p>
<p>The relief is palpable when the order to stop is given.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"Zero, how is your horse?" </p>
<p>"We can ride."</p>
<p>"Take Axl with you. Leave no one standing, understand?"</p>
<p>"Of course, Captain."</p>
<p>A scream rends the air-- within the King's black carriage.</p>
<hr/>
<p>By the time Zero and Axl have left the makeshift campsite, the blizzard has abruptly halted, leaving nothing but cruel icy winds and cracking pines. Zero picks his way through the frozen landscape on foot, moving as quickly- and as stealthily- as he can.</p>
<p>With the snowstorm dead, his target is clear.</p>
<p>His only obstacle is the frozen lake.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Death had been expected. The King's body is hidden away inside the carriage, obscured by a shroud and his multitude of furs.</p>
<p>X is numb to the world.</p>
<p>There's blood on his face, but it isn't his own.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"I'll go after him myself!"</p>
<p>"X, no! You're a target, as well!"</p>
<p>"They missed!"</p>
<p>Zero's horse, a battle-hardened beast, is apprehended by the Prince. </p>
<hr/>
<p>The lake is wide. She knows that the further she creeps out over its snow-laden expanse, the less safe she is-- what is thin and what is fragile is impossible to tell. Only her instincts, and some luck, could guide her to the other shore, where safety lay behind the bending pines. Her crossbow sits heavy across her back, but not nearly as heavy as the ax tucked inside her coat. </p>
<p>Errant loose snow rolls across the lake, carried by the gale. It clings to her coat as she crawls and stings exposed flesh, but her breath does not mingle with it. A muffler takes care of that.</p>
<p>The wind eases, like a long breath drawing to a close.</p>
<p>She can hear the snow crunch underfoot now, unbearably loud in the newfound silence. It causes her to pause, startled--</p>
<p>Crunch.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Zero's horse is a wild thing. X has ridden before, but nothing quite like this-- the agile beast flies, swift as an arrow, traversing the soft ground with no trouble at all. It was as if the horse knew exactly where to go, and well--</p>
<p>That's more than X had.</p>
<p>All he had was the raw determination to do right by his grandfather, by the King, whose blood was hot against his skin despite having frozen instantly long ago. Rage makes his body warm and the cold a thing of the past. </p>
<p>X's stomach drops.</p>
<p>The horse is leaping.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Can he really be the assassin? Zero has to wonder, already baring down on his target with a blade in his hands. Blood spatters the snow and ice as he forces his sword through layers of clothing and flesh. </p>
<p>He's about to withdraw the blade when his world upends itself. </p>
<hr/>
<p>X clings to the beast's neck as it charges. He's acutely aware that they've broken the forest for a lake, and the lake is occupied, but beyond the two silhouettes in the center is another, just a lump, imperceptible--</p>
<p>the horse thunders on, and X learns what it feels like to trample a human being.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The ice is breaking. How, or why, he can't be sure, but it is and the assassin is already sliding into the exposed depths of the lake. His head roars with the blood in his ears, and he's not entirely sure what is happening, except everything keeps moving. What's sky and what's ice mesh together into one, even as his gloved hands scramble for his sword or his arms try to support his weight--</p>
<p>it's all impossible, he finds. his blade is gone with the body, certainly, and he's shaking too badly to support himself.</p>
<p>"Zero! Is that you?!"</p>
<p>That sounds like the prince, he thinks suddenly, then laughs despite himself. Why would X be here? Surely he must be hearing things--</p>
<hr/>
<p>X tumbles off of Zero's horse, who whinnies as if affronted. He grabs the knight by the shoulders and pulls, dragging him away from the jagged hole in the lake, closer to where- hopefully- the ice was still stable. </p>
<p>"I'm glad I made it here in time," X gasps, cradling Zero against his chest. "Oh, God."</p>
<p>"Wh-- what are you doing here, X," Zero hisses from between his arms, shoving the Prince aside. "What the hell is going on?"</p>
<p>"I couldn't stay there! I had to do something!" X says, voice straining. "I think I saved your life, too!" </p>
<p>"Fuck," Zero groans, slumping down.</p>
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